This tour was curated by: National Museum of the United States Army
The National Museum of the United States Army preserves and honors the accomplishments, sacrifices and commitment of American Soldiers. As America’s Army Museum we are home to all Soldiers: past, present and future.
Following failed attempts to halt the rebellion in the southern colonies in the summer of 1781, British Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis marched into Virginia seeking decisive battle with the Continental Army and seized Yorktown to cut the southern Continental Army off from its supplies, as well as a port for the Royal Navy. His 7,000 men dug in around Yorktown, creating a network of bastions, trenches, and batteries. However, he was soon trapped on the peninsula by Continental forces.
Ever since the French entry into the war in 1778, the Continental Army and the French military had sought a chance to cooperate in a combined campaign against the British. Until now, bad weather and poor timing had prevented this. On 28 September 1781, following the French naval victory called the Battle of the Capes, the combined Allied forces of about 16,000 men marched out of Williamsburg and began the siege of Yorktown.
As the Allies began a careful reconnaissance of the British fortifications on 28 and 29 September, British General Cornwallis cautiously withdrew his men from the outermost works to his main defensive line on 30 September 1781. He was concerned that these isolated outposts would simply be surrounded and cut off if they remained where they were.
Allied troops were surprised to find the outer British works abandoned upon their approach and soon went to work incorporating them into their own siege lines. The Corps of Sappers and Miners in the Continental Army had the responsibility for constructing these positions. These positions allowed the heavy guns maximum range and firepower against the enemy lines.
In order to build siege batteries, the Allies had to build a series of “parallels”—trenches dug to hide the workers as they built artillery platforms. The Americans were on the right side of the line, and the French on the left. Both sides would dig parallels, connecting in the middle.
On 10 October, the first batteries of heavy cannons were in place and ready to fire. The guns fired round shot weighing up to twenty-four pounds each. At the given signal—the American flag being raised over the Grand Battery—General George Washington applied a match to the touchhole of a gun and fired the first shot of the siege.
On 11 October 1781, the Allies began work on the second parallel as seventy-six Allied guns fired throughout the day to cover the progress of the engineers. The parallel could not extend to the right, however, as two powerful British outer works blocked the way: Redoubts 9 and 10. These needed to be taken.
On 16 October, British Lt. Col. Robert Abercrombie led a 350-man sortie in the second Allied siege line to seize the guns in the center and render them unusable by driving metal spikes into their touchholes—spiking them, as it was called. The British hoped this would disrupt the Allied siege efforts.
On the night of 14 October, the Allies launched a combined assault on Redoubts 9 and 10 to gain ground for the next parallel that would bring them within striking distance of the British main line. Redoubt 9 was held by approximately 130 British regulars and German auxiliaries. Around 400 French soldiers assaulted the redoubt under the cover of darkness, taking it while suffering twenty-five percent casualties.
With Redoubts 9 and 10 taken by 15 October, the second Allied line was extended and filled with cannon. From 300 yards away, this heavy artillery battered at the main British lines and silenced most of Cornwallis’ artillery. Firing at near point-blank range for artillery, the gunners caused grave damage to the British fortifications.
In the darkness of the night of 14 October, Lt. Col. Alexander Hamilton led around 400 Continentals with fixed bayonets and unloaded muskets storming toward Redoubt 10 (now submerged in the York River). In the attack were free Black Soldiers from the 1st Rhode Island who led the charge over the British parapet.
Defenses like this sheltered British General Charles Cornwallis’ force of around 7,000 men. They were not strong enough to resist days of Allied bombardment, however, and when the Royal Navy was unable to break through, Cornwallis knew by 17 October that he had to surrender. At 10 a.m., a drummer boy mounted these works beneath a white flag and beat the signal for parley.
Many residents of Yorktown sought shelter in this cave from the constant bombardment. Enslaved African Americans who had been offered their freedom by the British huddled under the bluffs. On 14 October, the British forced them out of their lines because of lack of provisions. For those still enslaved in Virginia, Yorktown was not a birth of freedom.
Following the great victory at Yorktown, Congress in October 1781 directed that the first national memorial be erected to commemorate the event. However, it took a century for this direction to come to fruition. For many years after it was in place, an enlisted Army Soldier was assigned to stand guard over it.
Approximately 5,500 French soldiers under the overall command of the Comte de Rochambeau, a very experienced soldier, served at Yorktown. The infantry regiments were divided into three brigade-sized formations: Bourbonnois, Soissonois, and D’Agenois. In the narrative of Yorktown, their experience is largely forgotten. Learn more about them by driving around the loop.
While the Continental Army’s artillery arm had come a long way since 1775, a siege required the kind of heavy cannon that the Americans lacked in numbers large enough to make a difference. The French, therefore, provided most of the heavy guns, howitzers, and mortars used to batter Yorktown.
General George Washington arrived back in his home state of Virginia in mid-September. After paying a visit to his family at Mount Vernon, he established his headquarters here—situated between the American and French lines. He spent much of his time here between visiting the front lines and conferring with his French allies.
On 19 October, the British army marched out of Yorktown to lay down its arms. General Cornwallis claimed to be ill and was not in attendance. On the right side of the road stood the ragged Continental Army; on the left, the proud French. Although a peace treaty was still two years away, this marked the end of major fighting in the American Revolution.
Military camps were often like small towns. In addition to Soldiers, traders, merchants, artisans, families, and other individuals filled the camps. Camp followers, the term for wives or significant others who followed their Soldier to war, often filled valuable logistical roles for 18th century armies and could be considered a part of the regiment. It took people of all genders and races to bring about victory in the Revolutionary War.
This Tour is a Thematic Tour or Heritage Trail.
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The Siege of Yorktown marked the last major battle of the American Revolution, though neither side realized it at the time. Thanks to the help of French troops, General George Washington and his army emerged victorious over General Lord, Charles Cornwallis's British Army. Explore the momentous victory at Yorktown and learn more about Army history.
